Lamp-socket.



T. R. WILLWERSCHEID.

LAMP SOCKET. V

APPLIOATION FILED s112127, 1911.

1,075,318, Patented 0ot.7,1913.

coLuMm'A PLANoRAPrg co.,4 NNNNNNNNNNNNNN THEODOR R. WILLWERSCI-IEID, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

LAMP-SOCKET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Get. 7, 1913.

Application led September 27, 1911. Serial No. 651,631.

To all whom t may conce/ra Be. it known that I, THEODOR It. WILL- wnnsoHnn), a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Lamp- Sockets, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in lamp sockets particularly those used in connection with housings or outdoor signs.

My socket is adapted to be mounted in such a way that the electric conductors connecting with it are separated from the inclosing housing and letter plate, thus preventing short circuiting from moisture and the wearing away of insulation.

Among the objects of myr invention is to provide a socket without separable body parts which will permit the removal of the letter plate without loosening the socket or cutting wires and at the same time forming a waterproof joint with the housing.

The particular advantage of my device is its simplicity of operation and cheapness of construction together with efficient action.

In the drawings with which I have illustrated my device and which form part of this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved socket showing the housing partly broken away Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of a lamp and socket mounted in the housing, and Fig. 3 is a view of another form of housing fastener.

In the above drawings I have illustrated an incandescent lamp A mounted in a socket B carried by a mounting C which is attached to a housing D. The housing I) is formed of two parts 2 and 3 forming the back or support and front or letter plate of an electric sign as ordinarily constructed. Each of these parts has a rim portion l around its outer edge, the rim t of the front fitting over the rim of the back 2 and forming a close joint therewith. The front and back housings are fastened together by means of bolts 5 having thumb nuts 6 on the front of the housing. Any similar suitable fastening may be substituted for the bolts 5 which are especially designed to be accessible from the front of the housing.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a separator 3() attached to the back of the housing D and supporting the letter plate 32 which is fastened to the separator by a thumb screw 33 on the front of the housing. The rims 34 and 35 are shown connected by bolt 3G in the ligure. The housing illustrated is of the simplest form and may be constructed to tit any design of electric lighted display desired, the essential feature of the design being the front housing or cover piece 3 fitting over the back 2 and removable without disturbing the back on the electrical parts.

The mount or spider C consists of a flat strap as illustrated in Fig. 1 having a body portion 26 resting on the back 2 of the housing and fastened thereto by a rivet- 7 or in any other suitable manner and having arms 8 extending forward from the body for the support of the socket B. rIlie mount C is illustrated with only two arms 8 but may be provided with three or more for the proper support of the socket. By the use of a mount C the socket is raised from the supporting back 2 which is frequently formed of sheet metal, thus separat-ing the electrical conductors connected with the socket from the housing. The spider C also serves to prevent any moisture remaining between the socket B and the back 2 and allows a free circulation of air between the same which will tend to keep the socket B dry and prevent the decay or rusting of the back 2.

The socket B is formed of porcelain, hard rubber or other suitable insulating material, with a body part 9 of cylindrical or conical form in one piece and with an attachment base 10. The base 10 has laterally extending lugs 11 on opposite sides of the body 9 adapted to receive screws or bolts 12 connecting the base with the mount C at the extremities of the arms 8. Lugs 13 are formed on the base in the usual manner for the attachment of electrical conductors 14 supplying electrical energy to the lamp A in the usual manner. The mount C is so proportioned that the conduct-ors 14 resting on the base 10 of the socket B are substantially equally spaced between the front and back parts of the housing D thus giving the greatest safety from short circuiting. The body 9 of the socket extends through the front of the housing and is formed with the usual lamp receptacle 15 for the reception of an incandescent lamp as illustrated in Fig. 2.

Immediately within the front 3 the body 9 is provided with a shoulder 16 fitting the housing snugly and beveled back from the housing with a curved 'cross-section to the body. The shoulder 16 extending around the body 9 in contact with the front 3 serves as a support for the front which is pressed against the shoulder by the action of the bolt 5. The shoulder 16 with its curved cross-section also serves as a drip flange to gather moisture which may penetrate the housing D between the front 3 and the shoulder 16 and also any moisture which may gather on the inner face of the front and to convey it from the body 9 downward to its lowest point 17 where it may flow onto the inner face of the front 3 and to the bottom of the housing. The moisture accumulating in this manner is thus directed away from the base 10 and its attached conductors.

The body B is formed immediately in front of the shoulder 1G with a substantially cylindical surface 18 which is adapted to fit the opening in the front 3 of the housing l). The surface 1S has a height substantially equal to the thickness of the mate ial of the front 3. lmmediately in front of the surface 1S the body 9 is formed with a groove 19 and a drip flange 20 adjacent to the lamp A. Both the groove and flange are circular in cross-section and the flange is of less diameter than the surface 18 permitting the free removal of the front 8 from the housing without disturbing the socket B. rlille formation of the groove 1.9 adjacent to the surface 1S directs moisture flowing down on the outside of the front 3 away from the joint between the front and socket on its upper side and causing it to flow around the socket in the groove 19` to its lower side. The convex surface of the drip ring 2O is adapted to receive moisture resting on the lamp A and direct it downward to the lower part of the ring where it drains out onto the lip of the ring and drops olf.

lt will be readily seen that the moisture gathering on any part of the lamp or socket is directed by the peculiar formation of the flanges and grooves of the socket to a point below th-e main body part 9 of the socket where it accumulates and drips thus freeing the socket from moisture. This action is secured without the use of a part adjustable against the outside of front 3 to close the joint between the front and socket and permitting the free removal ef the front without the removal of any such adjustable of my invention together with the apparatus which l now consider to represent the best embodiment. thereof but l desire to have it understood that the construction shown is only illustrative and that the invention can be carried out by other means and applied to uses other than those above setforth within the scope of the following claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A support fo-r an incandescent lamp, comprising in combination, a housing formed in two coperating parts, a socket within said housing mounted on one of said parts by a spider having an opening between the same and said socket to prevent moisture from collecting between the base of said socket and said housing, said socket extending through the other of said parts for the reception of a lamp, and having a shoulder within said second housing part tapering away from said socket to form an uninterrupted thin edge adjacent the inner wall of said second housing part to close the aperture therein and adapted to .gather moisture therefrom and direct it away from said socket and lamp.

2. ln a support for an incandescent lamp, comprising, a housing formed in two parts, a spider like socket mount attached within said housing to one of its parts and having arms extending toward the other of its parts, a lamp socket detachably secured tothe arms lof said mount and extending through the other housing part for the reception of a lamp, and electric conductors for the lighting of said lamp attached to the base of said socket and being spaced by said mount away from the housing parts thereby preventing short circuiting in said housing by moisture.

n testimony whereof, Ihave signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

THEODOR lt. WILLWERSCHEID.

Witnesses H. L. FISCHER, PAUL S. SMITH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. U. 

